Days to Go: Time After
by Lei Koneko
Summary: Many years after the development of the Woodland Settlement, the new name of the village of the party, Axle, Rios, and Huang were overwhelmed with the amount of mob attacks of Nearby villages. The three left their families to find and eliminate the source. But this isn't the story about them, rather, their kids; Rex, Bone, and Ji-gu. Based on the Mob Talker Mob.
1. Prologue

**I will not go directly into the story. Though I will write the events that happened in the time skip here. New characters:**

**Ji-gu- age 9- daughter of Huang and Silk (Has almost white hair and blood red eyes)**

******Nico- age 10- son of Alice and ceased husband [John] (Brown hair, brown eyes, is mute)**

**Bone- age 13- son of Rios and Yurei (White to blond hair and grey and saturated green eyes)**

**Rex- age 15- son of Axle and Ria (Mostly wears a beanie, blue eyes)**

* * *

**Focus- Ji-gu- current age 4**

"Unicorn!" Ji-gu called out as she tugged a bundle of Huang's hair into a 'horn.' Silk giggled at the sight of the "Unicorn daddy." The family was out in a walk inside the precises of the settlement. Ji-gu sat on Huang's shoulders as he held hands with Silk.

"It's rare for you to be out of work this early."

Huang responded to Silk with a small laugh. "Well there is nothing to be done at the moment. Rios is constantly checking for any trade requests from villages, he said he's going to call me once we get one." Huang stated. Ji-gu was confused in this 'working matter,' so she asked the only question that seemed the most appropriate, to her.

"How's work Daddy?" She asked. Huang looked up at Ji-gu

"It's doing good Noi." Tamed ocelots, that now roam within the walls like it's their home, crowd around the 3 hoping to be petted.

"Kitty!" Ji-gu yelled. Huang lifted a cub and placed it on his head, so that Ji-gu can pet it. The sound of heavy footsteps scared the rest of the ocelots and the cub, which jumped off Huang's head, back to their cat house. Rios, the blacksmith and trade officer of the settlement, was holding a large case for a bow.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Huang asked. Rios gave the case to Huang.

"The project that you asked me to do is finished." He said. Huang opened the case to reveal his old enchanted bow with scabbards covering something that seems to sprout from the limbs. Huang removed one of the scabbards to reveal a blade. Etched on the blade is the Chinese character of "Arrow."

"Good job." Said Huang. "I like where you placed the Family crest; so how much is it?" Rios turned to his workshop.

"As long as you can dispatch mobs with ease, it's for nothing."

"Let's go home Kumo-chan!" Ji-gu held her arms out for Silk, who lifted her from Huang's shoulders and placed her on the ground. They held hands as they skipped home.

"She's small for a girl her age." Rios stated. "I worry for her health."

"She's a strong girl, and I'm not talking about the spider part of her."

Back home, Silk and Ji-gu were counting together in the living room.

"One, two, three..." They counted up to ten. At that time, Silk asked if Ji-gu wanted to count in Japanese. Her reply was a vigorous nod.

"Ichi, Ni, san..." Huang was laying against the wall, quietly watching the two count. Ji-gu was the first to notice him.

"Daddy!" This surprised Silk.

"Daddy?! That's not a number. Oh welcome home Huang-kun!" Huang placed the case on the kitchen table.

He asked, "Do you want to help me put the equipment away?" as he took one step on the stairs. Silk got up and followed Huang up the stairs.

"We'll be back, okay Kumo?" Ji-gu nodded as a response. Within a few second of them missing, she examined the exterior of the bow case, wondering if she can mimic the action of her father.

"Daddy fought with something like that before." She thought. She remembers the times when she watched Huang fight the "bad monsters" through a window. She grabbed the case and heaved it outside to the front gates. She removed the bow from the case and pointed it towards the front gate. The bow was as taller than she was, so it was hard for her to keep the bow vertical. "How did daddy use this?" She pulled the string. Purple particles formed by her hand. Once the particles formed an arrow, she screamed and dropped the bow. The arrow only traveled one block. She hesitated for a moment and regained her composure. Huang and Silk ran out of the house to see Ji-gu holding the blade bow.

"JI-GU!" They yelled simultaneously. Huang ran to grab Ji-gu and Silk ran to grab the bow. When Huang grabbed Ji-gu, a scabbard fell off from the bow and caused Silk to cut her hand when she made contact with it. Blood dripped from her hand as she cradled it.

"Go to Ria's." Huang commanded towards Silk. She nodded and quickly walked to the infirmary. Huang cleaned up the "mess" and held his hand out for the crying Ji-gu. She wiped her tears with a murmur and held on to Huang's index finger. When they got home, Huang hid his bow in the attic and sat next to Ji-gu in her room.

"Is mommy gonna be okay?" She asked. Huang patted her head.

"She's a big girl, she's gonna be okay." Ji-gu hugged Huang and leaned into his coat.

"It's okay, it's okay..."

Silk entered the room minutes later. Her hand was stitched and bandaged.

"Huang-kun, can we talk for a bit?" Silk had a infuriated look on her face. Huang sighed and left the room. Ji-ji, who was worried about her mother, walked up to the door and pressed her ear against the closed door.

(Silk) "[...] She's a little girl, and I'm sure she should be playing around with dolls and such, not something that can kill people! I don't know how the Nether you influence Ji-gu to use the bow at such an age."

(Huang) "I don't know myself. But if using a bow runs by blood, we should hide all of the bows in the house."

(Silk) "Or better yet, get rid of them. She's bound to find them." There was a long pause before Huang spoke.

"Okay... Our daughter's safety before anything else. Keep the new bow behind glass though, she might not be strong enough to break it and it will only be for emergencies." Ji-gu felt a tremendous feeling of guilt. "_Daddy can't fight..._" She plopped to her bed. Huang entered her room as Silk began to do the work.

"Sorry Noi, so you wanna hang with Daddy?" Despite that she was down, she nodded. Huang noticed Ji-gu's depressed behavior and took out a dried sugarcane flute and played a note. She immediately noticed the flute and glanced up at him, Huang smirking at the response and played the tune of Mineshaft.

**Focus- Bone- Age 4**

The sound of Bone's father crafting radiated from his workshop. Bone himself, stood outside the door, watching Rios mixing small amounts of Gunpowder, sand, and iron pellets to craft fireworks for the celebration tomorrow. Apparently, the settlement that they live in is now considered official, meaning that constant trade with nearby Villages and Towns are now legal by Minecraftian law. "Bone, don't come in, it's dangerous in here." Rios said while placing a firework in a chest. Bone stayed where he was, just outside the door. Yurei, Bone's mother, found him standing by the door and petted his head.

"Hi Bonez! You watching daddy?" She asked. Bone stared at the mysterious red objects that Rios was crafting and left to the living room, where books containing educational material and slices of apples on a plate lay on the coffee table. He sat down and opened the books, studying numbers and words. Yurei followed after him with a smile, knowing that her son is a scholar, despite being discouraging for being legitimately curious like a cat (There was a pun as his hair makes him look like a Neku, a human with several feline-like traits). Bone nibbled on an apple slice and turned the page, continuing to examine various pictures next to their corresponding numbers.

Bone then pointed at the door of the workshop and asked, "Why can't I go in there?"

"It's dangerous in there." Yurei replied.

"Why?"

"There are things that can hurt you in there."

"Why?" Yurei was about to reply to Bone but knew where the conversation was heading. Instead, she pinched his cheeks which caused him to laugh bubbly and return back to reading his book.

"Oh no! It's past bedtime!" Yurei said giddily as she looked at the clock. Bone closed the book and yawned purposely, slouching to his room, acting tired. He was actually restless due to not knowing what Rios is making.

The next day, at night, the Santos and Niedos families stayed outside of their houses as they started the firework show, the Lees staying inside as Ji-gu is asleep and would be troublesome to subdue her. Rex, Bone's cousin, sat in front of his home, with Yurei and Ria who were chatting, waiting for something to happen. Bone was watching Rios and Axle set up the fireworks with redstone so that they fire in a sequence.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Axle yelled as he picked up Bone as they ran to the front of his house. After a few seconds, fireworks that were lined up in a row fired upwards in a wave-like pattern. Bone watched in awe as multitudes of color explode in the air, painting the sky with white, red, and green. Yurei picked up Bone and placed him on her lap.

Yurei whispered in his ear. "It's pretty right?" He gave a confirming nod.

After the show was over, both families entered the Santos Residence. Yurei and Ria were in the Kitchen making dinner for both families. Correction, ATTEMPTING to make dinner as Yurei still can't cook. Rios and Axle were in the workshop doing a storage check. Rex laid on the couch and fell asleep. Bone was watching his Father and Uncle doing their business.

"I think I made too much fireworks" Rios said as he opened the chest containing the explosives.

"I'm surprised that we still have enough gunpowder to make stacks of TNT!" Axle added. He checked off something in his book and opens another crate. "How many creepers did your wife, Silk, and Shorty mutilate 5 years ago?"

Rios noticed Bone standing by the door. "Axle, watch your language." Axle looked at the door in shock.

"HOLY SH- SERMENS!" Rios facepalmed.

With a sigh, he said, "Sorry Bone, I'm kinda busy now, I'll play with you later." Yurei and Ria screamed in the kitchen.

"Fire!" The two ran into the kitchen, preparing for the worst. Bone entered the workshop, grabbed a firework and redstone torch, and ran out with haste. Rex eyed him drowsily as Bone ran out of the door.

Outside, Bone examined the two items and swiped the redstone torch on the firework, igniting it. He didn't know what happened next, a round fired from the tube and danced its way to the bottom floor of the Lee residence. The explosion was meager, a gaping hole on the corner of the house. Huang, who was filling documents, slowly turned his head in horror at the sight of the destroyed wall in his library. Many books and wood planks litter the ground. He doesn't know why, but Bone felt a sense of humor from seeing Huang's reaction.

Hearing crying further in the house, Huang dashed out of the room, nearly running into Silk, who just opened the door to the library and saw the huge hole in the wall with a gaped mouth. "What the NE-" Huang cupped her mouth and moved her out of the room. Bone was not able to suppress his laughter any more and laughed until tears dripped from his eyes.

**Focus- Huang- age 23**

In the settlement square, Rios holds up a document from the King of Minecraftia.

"-We will be considered a town once we have a town hall and a mayor. Simple as that." He explained. "So I think it would be best to nominate." All but Rios and Silk pointed at Huang after a brief chatter.

"Uh... why me?" Huang looked at each of his friends; Axle and Ria beaming him deviously. "I really don't think I should deserve that role. I think Rios should."

Rios scratched his head. "Well I'm a bit too old to be Mayor."

"You are only 3 years older than me."

Rios hesitated. "Anyways, I don't make the best choices, I just follow orders."

"Same here." Added Axle. Huang looked at the girls who shook their heads as they smiled.

"I don't think I would be suited for making the best decisions."

Ria tilted her head in confusion. "Why is that?" Huang stuck his thumb out at his wife next to him, who was pregnant with their child. Silk gasped at the gesture.

"Well excuse me wise guy!"

"I meant what happened 7 years ago."

"It better be..." Huang stared at her for a few seconds and looked away from embarrassment.

Rios broke the awkward moment. "So it's official, Huang is the Mayor." Huang opened his mouth to protest but knew this was going nowhere.

Axle stood up and stretched, as did Ria, Yurei left, Rios just stood there smiling. This made Huang more confused than he was before. "Okay?"

Rios nodded at Axle, who then said the worst lines ever said to Huang. "WISH YOU LUCK WRITING THE 15 PAGE REPORT!" Everyone but Silk ran away from Huang and into their respective homes. Huang stood in horror as he never had to write this much.

"S-Silk... did you know about this?" Silk was also in a state of horror.

"I wish they didn't make it sound so freaking scary."

"Thank you for refraining the use of the F-bomb..." Silk smiled from that response and held out her hand for Huang to pull her up. "So did you figure out which it is yet?"

"Baka, it's only been 2 months." Silk kissed him in the cheek and left to Yurei's house. Huang grabbed the paper that Rios left on the ground and skimmed through it.

"Mak qufann, 15 pages worth of... I hate you all..."

**Focus - Yurei - Age 22**

Yurei pulled back on her bow and released to let her arrow fly to the target. Huang followed suit and split her arrow in half. Yurei then split his, and it kept going for a few minutes until the long pole of splinters arched down from all of the weight.

"I swear, you're a skeleton." Yurei said as she watches Huang crack his neck and back. "Ew..."

Huang started cracking his knuckles and replied back, "I said this multiple times, I'm this accurate naturally by talent, and by heritage..." Huang paused for a moment. "The hair is just a coincidence."

Yurei was shocked at the pre-spoken reply. "Scary..." She pulled back three arrows and hit three separate targets, all hitting the red dot, or bull's eye. Huang did the same. Basically, the two are practicing their archery skills, nothing much happe-

"Yo!"

Yurei screamed, Huang kicked the person behind them without thinking. Turns out... it was Axle, who received the kick to the gut.

"You sonavabitch..." Huang laughed at the sight of Axle in pain. Yurei, did not take the scaring lightly and aimed her bow at him. Axle saw the bow and stuttered his words, "I-I n-need some money to buy some o-obsidian for the walls!"

Huang replied, "No."

"No hesitation!" Yurei blurted. Axle went on his knees and asked again.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"HEY SILK, HUANG'S CHE-"

"OKAY FINE!"

"Thank you, damn I should've brought a dog..."

"Do that and I will aim a bit lower in my favor."

"Whatever Shorty." Axle dashed to Huang's house and he gave chase. Yurei was left alone in the makeshift shooting range.

Yurei gave out a short disapproving sigh, "Boys..." She returned to her previous activity of target practice, unknowing that Silk was behind her.

"Did someone call my name?" The spider asked drowsily. Yurei squeaked, made a slight jump, and fell on her bottom, accidentally firing her bow in the process, incidentally, the arrow impaled itself on the bull's eye of the target.

Yurei's face grew red from the harassment of being scared and yelled without even looking, "WHAT'S WITH PEOPLE AND SCARING ME?!"

Silk looked at Yurei without any facial expressions, "I scared you?" She grinned from that statement. "Yeah, I'm awesome, didn't even try there." Yurei turned to Silk with rage and saw the red eyes of the girl, Yurei's previous fury cooling down.

"You really need to stop scaring the shit out of people..." She exclaimed.

Silk crouched down to Yurei's level. "Nah, it's fun to see idiots scream in fear." She yawned the last word from being tired.

"Tired? You shouldn't be 'doing stuff' with Huang so la-" Yurei was cut off from her sentence when Silk started yelling unintelligent slurs. "Loser!" She laughed.

Silk blushed. "We didn't do anything but talk, besides, you shouldn't be saying anything Ms. One-month." Silk smiled deviously when Yurei's face grew red from both embarrassment and anger.

"You know, that also means I'm VERY CRANKY!" The spider was gone in an instant when Yurei gave chase. Silk, like her boyfriend, was extremely agile and nimble; Yurei had no chance to keep up, especially with the added weight. She then spotted Rios in the doorway of their house, hand on face. She knew what that meant and instead stopped pursuing Silk and walked up to Rios. "Whoops, hehe..." She said innocently.

"You know, you really are a klutz." Rios said with another sigh, he then gave an unsealed letter to Yurei. "It needs some editing before it could be sent." The letter was to the United Minecraftia Government, yet Yurei took no delicacy to open the letter and to examine it. "Well?"

"I'm going to re-write this..." Yurei walked inside the house still staring at the piece of paper. Rios sighed once more and spotted Axle and Huang walking out of Huang's house with a smug face, and Huang with a defeated face.

"So he got it..." Rios said to himself.

Yurei spoke while still staring at the paper. "You said something?"

"Nothing, just that Huang lost a few stacks of emeralds."

"You say what?" Yurei thought for a moment. "Well there goes Silk's ring." She thought.

**Focus - Axle - Age 36**

It was apparently Guy's night in the town hall, not the best of plans, especially for Huang.

"WOOHOO!" Axle yelled while being a bit tipsy, clashing mugs with Rios who looks just as. Huang sat at the other end of the round table, calmly sipping tea while writing a document. Axle looked over at Huang, then at the paper. "Hey, you gotta lay back once in a while ya know! *hic*"

Huang dipped the quill in the ink jar and continued writing, replying with, "Your fault."

Rios regained a little bit of sanity and looked at the ground. "You know it's not entirely that..." Axle too, regained a little bit of sanity and stared off to the ground. They all knew the situation involving the recent mob attacks of the other villages, they were all too co-ordinate and frequent.

The idiot raised his glass up for a cheers, "All the more reason to lay back right?" Rios shrugged and clicked mugs, Huang stared at the mug next to his tea cup. "Hey I just remembered, isn't this the first time you ever gonna drink?" Axle said to Huang.

"Don't even think about it." Huang replied, he took another sip and wrote the last sentence before walking out of the room with the document briefly and returning momentarily. "I want to do something about it, instead of sending supplies to them to cushion the blow..."

Axle finished his mug and poured half of the contents of the untouched mug into his. "You know we can't do anything else." He replied.

Rios thought for a moment. "There was a recent discovery of a Nether Portal, I don't know about you guys, but that seems a bit suspicious..." He finished the rest of his drink and poured the rest of the untouched drink into his.

Then it hit them. They all looked at each other and gave a confirming nod. Huang was the first to speak, "We go when the nearest village to us is attacked. Then we follow the mobs." Axle chugged the rest of his mug and opened the chest nearby to retrieve a water vial and netherwart, consuming both to become sober.

"We should get ready then, right?"

Rios took the same items from the chest. "Just like old times."

Huang gulped down the rest of the green tea. "Not the most enjoyable of times, anyways. We should be discreet about our leave, we don't want our families to stop us from doing this, we all know how dangerous this is." Axle held out his fist over the table, Rios and Huang pounded it seconds later. "This better be the last time you guys are ever going to drink in here." Huang added. The other two laughed as the three went to leave the building. Axle stayed behind a bit, stealing a piece of paper before leaving. "_I just want to make a good-bye letter before that happens..._" He thought. He shoved it in his pocket and walked to his house. He opened the door slowly to avoid making a sound. Then walked into the hallway to his room. He stopped when he passed Rex's room. "_Looks like I'm not going to see him for a while... sorry buddy..._" Opening the door quietly, he spots Ria sleeping soundly on the bed, giggling a bit from her dreams. "_I'm going to miss you guys so much..._"

* * *

**Sorry this took too long; school, and losing a bet to someone so now I have to participate in almost all of the class fundraisers.**

**This is the new writing style. If you would like to have the original style, sent your vote before the end of this week.**


	2. Chapter 1 Report: Nether

**And of course no one would want to read this because of the 3,000 plus words in one chapter thing...**

* * *

**Chapter 1: **Report: Nether

"Unicorn!" Yelled Ji-gu as she pulled up a bundle of her father's hair. She sat on his shoulders as she, her father, and mother were taking a stroll around the settlement. Silk giggled at the sight of "unicorn daddy."

Huang looked up at the small 9 year old. "Deja vu..." Ji-gu was an incredibly small girl for her age, making it easy for her to sit on her father's shoulders without him receiving much strain. The 9 year-old leaned forward to see her father's face, her long silver hair draping over her shoulder's and onto her father's face. "Now who's hair is this?" He asked with a childish attitude. He brushed off the hair and saw two blood red irises looking back at him. His daughter giggled.

"Yo! Rios!" Silk called out. Huang looked towards the direction of the aging blond, but his face turned pale when he saw Rios' face, like one who just saw Herobrine.

"May I talk with Huang for a bit? Important matters." Silk nodded and held out her hands for Ji-gu.

"Let's go Kumo-chan." Ji-gu nodded and held out her arms for Silk to lift her off from Huang's shoulders. They began walking off to the house. Huang gulped when he turned to Rios.

He barely managed to speak his command. "R-report..."

"They hit it..." Huang thought the organ between his lungs was about to fail.

"Where you able to trace them?" Rios nodded. "Tell Axle, 'we leave at midnight.'" Rios mouthed the word 'yes sir' and slowly walked to Axle's home.

**Huang POV: **

Huang looked at his clothing, White silk formal oriental coat, dark blue silk pants, and his slippers, not the best choice of clothing for fighting. "I guess I'm going to wear that again... I'm too old for it though..." He walked home, trying to regain his composure on the way. When he opened the door of his 2 story home, he looked at the display case by the opening for the kitchen. His bladed bow was behind a pane of glass, and his old coat was hung outside of the display, collecting dust from lack of use. He tenderly unhooked it and held it on his arm. "I'm going to make some changes on this..." He spots a tear mark by the sleeve. "This would make a good excuse..." Huang walked up the stairs of his home, hearing a flute being played by his daughter. She waved through the door as he passed by. He knocked on the door of his room, where he would expect to find Silk, which she is.

"Come in!" Silk called through the door. Silk was sowing a white beret for Ji-gu to wear. She frowned and placed the almost finished hat on her lap when she saw the coat on Huang's arms when he walked in. "Why are you holding that?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

"There's a tear on the sleeve, I thought I might ask if you can fix it." Silk sighed and motioned to give it to her, which Huang did later. "Also, I thought it might be a good idea to fix the short zipper problem to avoid getting any misunderstandings from Ji-gu."

"And WHY are you asking to fix all of this?" She asked with the same annoyed tone.

Huang rushed to think, "I know one of these days, Ji-gu is going to ask me to wear it again, and how can I say no to that cute face?" Silk's eye twitched. "Just saying, she's a curious little girl."

"I know, that's why I TOLD you to put this behind the glass too."

"I was still young enough to wear it without problem... and I did not have any other form of clothing..."

"Just... let me fix it, and get out..."

Huang nodded and left the room and thought, "Why did this have to happen?"

**Rios POV:**

Axle pounded the wall of his house with a fist.

"No, tell me you're joking, tell me you joking, LIE IF YOU HAVE TO!"

"I'm joking..." Rios, did not look happy when he said it.

Axle's face paled. "That... was a lie... wasn't it?" Rios nodded. "Get out... I need... time..." He left with no debate, no hesitation. The things that are about to happen will be heartbreaking, and terrifying; something that the three men had experienced before, survived, and withered away from. Now they must give that same pain to their families, just to save them. Poor Ria, she would be the only person here who would re-live the same trauma of losing everyone.

"No matter who's life is shattered, no matter if your body is scarred, we have already done our part in the settlement, continuing it's future. We have done all that we can in there, nothing else can be done." The brief speech that scared little Huang had said the day before still rung in his head. Huang knew that going to the Nether in the current situation would mean death. There is no telling what could happen in there; being only that the first person who survived a trip to the Nether would be Steve, who then made only a select few to travel through the portal. No information about the Nether itself was told, but we can only imagine by the horror stories of an insane dying man's dreams.

His only son, Bone, a boy with unique traits of blond and silver hair, and irises that form green and grey rings, sat at the foot of the coffee table of the living room. He was studying, oblivious of the situation of the outside world. He should be a scholar, not one to prey on survival when he grows. "Sup dad." He casually said not even batting an eye towards Rios' direction. It really hurt, but it would be confusing to say anything now.

Rios made only a simple reply, hoping that his son cannot tell the dread that would be happening. "Good Afternoon Bone, how's the work going along?"

"Pleasant."

Rios checked his old equipment in workshop. All of his stuff was still there, leather armor with an iron chestplate, and two iron swords. The reasoning of this, Bone tends to steal a few items from the workshop every now and then, mainly being various forms of explosives. Bone was leaning against the workshop entrance. "Okay, I swear I didn't take any today."

Rios closed the chest and went to examine the explosives chest, it seems that none of them were touched. "Well that's good to hear." Rios wanted to check on Yurei now, so when he passed by Bone, Rios gave him a single, firm pat on the shoulder. "Honey! Were are you?" A scream from the kitchen moments later made him knew where she is. Bone tossed his father a bucket of water while it was still in its item form. "I'm coming!"

The kitchen was not in the best of shapes in the current moment; almost all of the wooden items in the stone room in the horizontal building is on fire. Rios placed the water block on the center of the ceiling, drenching both the occupants and the wooden items below. When the water block was back in the bucket, the damage was examined.

Yurei was not very proud, especially in the case of Rios' quick response. There goes dinner... Again...

"Ouch..." Ria said, squeezing the excess water from her apron. "Better luck next time I guess." She laughed when the skeleton punched her in the arm.

"You should really stop trying to get the house burnt down..." Rios protested.

Yurei crossed her arms. "Well I can do a lot better when I'm actually trying!"

"Apparently, catchin' the place on fire is 'trying'" Ria mocked.

**Axle POV:**

He only sat on the chair of the dining room table for an hour. He only wanted to hang out with Rex. Fun is it? Especially since the young man refuses to do anything else other than sleep and doing whatever it is outside the house. Staring off into space, or the ceiling, was getting him nowhere in the few remaining hours he has in the village. He wanted to take the courage to have the best time with his son, and knocked on his door.

"What?!" Yelled the sleepy grumpy kid on the other side of the door.

Axle took a deep breath, and said with his sane voice. "You wanna play ball?"

"No."

One word hurted him. Congrats Axle, you have achieved a new low and a new high.

"You sure?"

"Yes." Axle does not want to be the strict father that forces you to do whatever he wants, so he went out on his own ways. To where? His body was set on auto-pilot while his mind was bent on imagining all of the "what if's" of what's going to happen.

What if this will never help anyone?

What if someone dies?

What if my family dies while I'm not there?

It drove him crazy, not knowing. It was the first time in ages, or possibly his entire life he had ever been troubled by not knowing anything. Though probably, it would be inappropriate to say that he had lost his cool.

And when he heard the crash from Rios' house, he didn't mind it, he was too busy in his thoughts to think about Rios' house, that and the mere fact that Yurei tries cooking too much.

* * *

**(That night)**

**POV Ji-gu:** She only heard a sound of broken glass in the darkness. None of her windows where broken, but she, like all unknowing children ran to her parents room immediately after the sound. To her dismay, only her mother ran out of the room to examine the damage. She looked in the room, her father was no where.

"Where's daddy?"

Silk, hearing that, turned around and found only her daughter. She hushed her into the bedroom and locked the door after her, putting a finger over Ji-gu's mouth to make sure she doesn't make a noise. Silk covered the door with some string to cover the door even more and sat next to Ji-gu in the corner, staring at the door for any signs of hostility. And staring, she had, for hours.

Ji-gu wondered about the broken glass, and she falls asleep to her mother's comfort. "What broke?"


	3. Chapter 2 The Diamond Sword

**Chapter 2 The Diamond Sword**

**POV Bone:** "Do I really?" Bone whined to his mother. Now that the men of the village were missing, and the women now extremely busy with the extra work they had just acquired with no warning, the children were requested to help transport some supplies to the previously attacked building. Bone, being asked to help along, was trusted with a map and co-ordinates to the village, the vital personnel of the trip.

Yurei nudged her son out of the door, responding with a kind smile and a calm command. "Now don't you come back here until the job is finished!" The door slammed shut in front of him after.

"Bone-san!" Said a too familiar girl's voice. Ji-gu, standing next to Rex (Bone's cousin), waved towards him from the front gate. Silk stood by a lever which opens the gate, which she pulled hesitantly.

When the three set foot on the dirt ground outside of the obsidian walls, Silk called out to her little girl. "Be safe you hear me?" Little Kumo-chan patted her new hat as a response.

Rex muttered angrily, "Why the Nether do I have to go?" Bone was tempted into playing a prank on the two but he too wanted to get home before dark.

"You're big and strong! You can help us carry all this stuff to... what's the village called again?" Ji-gu replied. Bone checked the paper containing the co-ordinates for the village.

"Spruce Village, and..." He calculated the distance. "2 kiloblocks away from here... thirty minutes..."

Rex ruffled up his hair, which is under a beanie, angrily. "Fu-" He remembered that there was a 9 year old with them. He decided not to finish his sentence and replaced it with, "I don't get paid enough to get out of bed." Ji-gu giggled at the remark.

**POV Ji-gu:**

The fifteen minutes of walking was only stricken with the little girl being at awe of the world around her, seeing the grass change color as they switch biomes, seeing the variety of trees they had passed by, even some passive mobs they had never seen but in books. A flash of grey caught her eye, it hid behind a tree. The curious girl couldn't help herself but to chase it. Around the corner of the tree was a small wolf pup that wagged it's tail like it was a tamed wolf that returned the curious eyes of Ji-gu. It barked once and Ji-gu was caught in a trance of cuteness. She began to pet it while the rest of the party easily found her when she split from the group. Blame her clothing that looks almost like her mother's, except it's white.

"Let's go," commanded Rex as he continued to walk along the path of the woods. Ji-gu stuck her tongue at Rex and resumed petting the pup. Bone decided to set up a small prank by putting a firework on the other side of the tree and lighting it. The result made the pup run for the hills, and the sounds of howls all around.

Bone ran towards their destination with a speedy start, yelling, "I bet their bites are worse than their barks!" Grown wolves emerged from deep inside the woods, snaring and growling at the poor girl. She'd only scream and run to Bone.

It took only 5 minutes of running to get to the village, the village that looked like no one attacked it in the first place. It's tall buildings were still intact and there was a funeral service going on in the parkway.

"I think you messed up the co-ordinates smart one!" Rex yelled at his younger cousin.

Bone examined the map once more and found that this is the right place, saying, "If the x and y values are switched, then we would of ended up in this lake." He pointed at the large lake on the map to Rex but he was more interested with the only picture on the board of the funeral service. He recognized the face, the husband of his father's friend, Alice.

"We should check this out."

Ji-gu was the only oblivious one here, she never knew what a funeral is or looked like, she thought it was just people attending an outdoor sermon. She followed the two cousins when they began to walk towards the empty section.

**NO POV:**

"And we have here today, the widowed wife of John Coal." The priest made way on the podium for a woman dressed in black.

"My name is Alice Coal..."

Rex mouthed, "Oh shit" which Bone saw from the corner of his eye.

"What's up?"

Rex turned to Bone and whispered into his ear. "That would be 'Auntie Alice' our old mans were talking about. She apparently could beat the living senses out of both of them at the same time if she'd tried."

Ji-gu whispered in Rex's ear asking the most dumbest question in Minecraftia, "Is it's someone's birthday?"

Rex used his hand to move the girl's face away from him. "You have much to learn idiot."

The Funeral speech is brief, mostly due to the poor woman leaving early to cry. The party decided to follow her to her bakery, which seems to have been expanded since when both Rex and Bone last been here.

"Auntie!" Rex yelled to the woman. She looked up from her handkerchief to see the young man, which she hugged seconds after eye contact. She was hysterically crying on his shoulder. "Calm down, you still have Nico." Alice released the hug and nodded.

"Thanks, I shouldn't forget about him." She took a few seconds to regain her positive composure which did not easily show because of her eyes which were red from crying. "So why are you guys here?"

"Our daddies are missing so we are taking care of their jobs!" Alice petted Ji-gu, who giggled childishly.

"Why aren't you a responsible five year old?"

"I'm 9!" She corrected while still giggling.

Alice stopped petting the spider girl from shock and waved them into the bakery, saying "Let me treat you guys to something, you must be hungry!" Rex and Ji-gu decided to go in and to take a break while Bone took all of the supplies and went to the town hall. The previously all wooden bakery is now a stone brick and... brick building which kept its café feel and design. Alice's son, Nico, sat on a chair on the furthest part of the bakery. "Nico, say hi!" The mute child waved to the three visitors. "Do you want anything to eat?" Nico nodded lightly. Ji-gu and Rex took their seats next to Nico, who stared aimlessly out the glass panes. The three sat in silence, with sounds of something cooking in the back room, which bothered the little girl to a point where she held her hand out to Nico.

"Hi! I'm Ji-gu Kumo Lee!" Nico grabbed her hand, shook it, and resumed looking out the window. "Uh... You're supposed to say your name when someone greets you..."

Rex fixed his beanie and answered her unspoken question, "Nico is mute, he cannot talk." She replied with a dumb, "Oh..."

Nico, in universal Minecraftian Sign language, or UMSL, "Please leave me alone."

"Whatever..." Rex picked up Ji-gu by the back of her shirt and moved to a different seat in the bakery. Alice emerged from the side door besides the front counter with a tray of 3 sandwiches in a paper foil and a small baggy. She was about to say something but knew what happened at the sight of Nico's mourning. She placed a sandwich in front of Nico, which he took without looking, and gave the tray to the Woodland Children.

"The bag's for Bone, it's his father's favorite sandwich too." Rex waved her off and took a bite out of his sandwich. "Also, I have something for you Rex." This placed a bit of interest of Rex to Alice's voice, but she left to the backroom when he expected her to talk more. Ji-gu took a bite out of the steak and potato sandwich and squealed from satisfaction.

"Do you always do that when you eat?" Rex asked obnoxiously. Since she had to go back to the back room, he know it is something big, not puny like a small toy. He toyed with the rosary around his neck as he ate.

Alice opened the side door again, carrying a long object covered with a cloth of some sort. "This would be the thing that I wanted to give your father, but since the little girl-"

"Ji-gu!"

"... Ji-gu over there said that your father is missing, I think you may find this useful to you." She hands the object to Rex. He took it and moved a small portion of the cloth to see a glint of a light blue.

"Why are you giving me this?" Rex asked, usually he'd keep something as valuable as this but the item, Alice's diamond sword, was her only means of self defense.

"Cause I want to."

"You can't fight without this!"

"Who says I want to fight?" Rex opened his mouth but sulked back to his seat and continued eating. "I give up, no more fighting for me!" She made the most fake laugh that annoyed Rex to a point where he shoved the item back to her.

"And who said I want to either? Look, I'm only taking the stinking supplies here, and go back home. So I'm NOT taking your freaking sword, NOT going to fight, and NOT giving a fu-" And again, Rex remembered that Ji-gu sat next to him. "... I'm not going to give a Nether about this."

Nico's eyes widen as he just remembered something.

Alice hugged the sword and gave the look of being depressed again. "Okay, then I'm going to have to give you three some emeralds, it's late and you said you don't want to fight. I have enough for all three of you to rent a room in the inn..."

Bone entered the bakery, stretching his right arm. "Damn, that was some heavy liftin'. What's up people? What are we gonna do? It's too late to go home now!"

Alice repeated her previous statement. "I'm going to lend you guys some emeralds for a 2 person room in the Inn."

"What about the third guy?" Rex added.

"Girl." Alice corrected. "Silk was an awesome sower so I'm thinking..." Everyone, except for Nico of course, looked at Ji-gu who was finishing up her sandwich. "She might be able to make a hammock just like her mother." Ji-gu crumpled up the paper foil into a ball and wrapped it with some string that came out from the palm of her hand. Then she held her hand out vertically and played paddleball.

And she noticed everyone is staring at her. "Is there something on my face?"


End file.
